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Gerion Lannister (Ninclow)
Gerion Lannister is a member of House Lannister and the youngest son of Lord Tytos Lannister and Lady Jeyne Marbrand, and the younger brother of Tygett, Genna, Kevan and Tywin. Said to be a man quick to laugh and with a gift for making others laugh, Gerion's relationship with the latter was notoriously stormy, as the Lord Paramount of the Westerlands long since had come to mistrust laughter, having heard too much of it directed at House Lannister in his youth as a result of their father's follies, whom in temperament Gerion resembled far more than his brothers. Gerion's bright-eyed look on life also meant that Lord Tywin thought him unreliable and overlooked him for all positions of responsibility. The fact that Gerion never achieved knighthood also meant Tywin felt he failed to live up to his duty of contributing to bringing further honors to their family name. In an effort to reconcile with him and prove his worrth, Gerion went on a quest to find the ancestral Valyrian steel sword of his house, and any other treasures that might have survived the Doom of Valyria. Almost a decade passed after his ship left Lannisport, Lord Tywin sent men to look for his lost brother and they traced him as far as Volantis, where half his crew had deserted him because of his intention of sailing across the Smoking Sea to Old Valyria. History Early childhood Gerion Lannister was born at Casterly Rock in the summer of 255 AC as the fifth of Lord Tytos Lannister's child by his lady wife, Jeyne Marbrand. A happy, healthy little boy, the addition of yet another cub into the litter proved both a joy and a crisis for his family, because of his mother's passing within a moon's turn of his conception due to sickness. The youngest and most reckless of the five siblings, while he was neither quite as diligent and dutiful as his older brothers, nor had quite their skill or savvy with the sword, in time, however, it became very clear that there was not a one among the younger members of House Lannister that could run faster, ride better, climb higher or got in more scraps than littlest of the lion cubs. Gerion could also recall several caged lions kept deep down in the bowels of Casterly Rock during his youth, and was the only one that could reach into the cage and pet them without fear of losing an arm, which his lord father would jape was because of how 'the lions know to recognize its own kind', earning Gerion the epithet of "The Cub of Casterly Rock", a sobriquet that stuck all the way until his sixteenth nameday. Tywin in particular was keen for Gerion to grow dutiful and though-minded.To this end, his older brothers would often take turns engaging him in Come-into-my-castle, a game meant to teach highborn children about the virtue of courtesy, knowledge of heraldry, as well as the friends and enemies of their house. Nor was it at all uncommon for at least one of them to watch over him as he were being tutored by Maester Volarik, or trained with weapons by their master-at-arms, the diligent Ser Benedict Broom, urging him to take their respective teachings seriously. For all their efforts, however, Gerion merely laughed and japed: Like Kevan and Tygett, Gerion was overshadowed by their older brother Tywin, who, as befits the scion of one of the Great Houses of Westeros, was always head and shoulders above either of them. While Kevan built up a life at Tywin's side and Tygett tried to be his own man, Gerion was never particularly drawn to the cut and thrust of politics and court intrigue, thinking it better to mock the game than to play and lose. Whereas his siblings had all spent much of their formative years being forced to watch their mighty house nearly brought to ruin by the follies of their lord father, Gerion's tender years meant that he was largely ill-equipped to take heed to the consequences of the misrule taking place, and as such, Gerion was very close to Lord Tytos, whom in temperament he resembled more than he did his older brothers and sister, much to the chagrin of his oldest brother Tywin. When their father became Lord of Casterly Rock, the Westerlands laughed with the "Laughing Lion", as the jovial Tytos was called. But when his men realized he had neither teeth nor claws, they started to laugh at him.'' Too young to recognize the loans that went unpaid, or how his father's own bannermen did as they pleased and mocked him in their cups, he only truly noticed the difference when The Rains of Castamere began to echo through their halls during feasts. Only a boy of five at the time of the Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion, Gerion spent the war in the safety of Casterly Rock, while the younger brother of their lord father, Ser Jason Lannister, lead a force of eleven thousand westermen to fight beside the army of the Iron Throne at the Stepstones. Upon receiving word that his uncle had perished on the field of battle, Gerion was devastated, and horrified when faced with the possibility that his older brothers, all of whom had left to participate in the war alongside the rest of the Lannister army, also could be facing certain death at the hands of the outlaws, exiles and sellswords who had journeyed all the way from Essos to make claim on the Seven Kingdoms. Gerion pleaded with the measter to send a raven on his behalf, requesting their immediate return. Two days later, his letter was answered: Remonstrating him for failing to see the splendor and take pride in their contributions to the war effort, Tywin instructed the little lordling to be brave in the face of adversity, as befits a lion of Casterly Rock. After reading this, Gerion locked himself inside his room and refused to eat anything for two days. In the end, it had been a young knight by the name of Ser Barristan Selmy, whom Gerion was told had cut a bloody path though the ranks of the Golden Company before finally putting the last of the Blackfyre Pretenders to the sword in single combat, who ended the war. Although Lord Tytos threw a huge feast to celebrate their safe return, the joyous occasion turned unexpectedly sour when Tywin learned how their lord father had yet to demand payment for the many debts owed them. Informing their lord father, for the whole family to hear no less, that he had seen how the rest of the realm sniggered at the once mighty House Lannister, and did not shy away from laying the blame with its current Warden of the West. Tension rose as Tywin openly chided him for not taking part in the war, dismissing the feeble excuses of the ruling lord that he was not a warrior with the accusation that Lord Tytos would sooner let others fight his own wars and die in his name than leave the side of the mistress that had been warming his bed since the death of his lady wife. Later that evening, it was said within Gerion's earshot by one of his father's own sworn swords that those who had beheld the proud young lions on the field of battle at the Stepstone might rightly have wondered how such could ever have sprung from the loins of the quivering fool beneath the Rock. Adopting this sentiment as his own after a bit of pondering, Gerion confided in his sister that he intended to sneak out in the dead of night and make his way by foot to nearby relatives, where he solemnly vowed to stay until their spineless father's last day. In response to this, his sister Genna told him that since it was by their father's directive that their uncle and brothers had gone to war, evidently their lord father 'was more of a commander than he was an infantryman', insisting how he had been one of the most trusted advisers in the King's own war council, exchanging countless ravens throughout the war and claiming that Tywin's anger was unjustified, since plans and strategy was as much part of war as sharpened steel. In time, Gerion came to learn the truth, but he also came to greatly appreciate the gesture, as it allowed him let go of some of his resentment and remember the Laughing Lion more fondly after his passing, as opposed to remain bitter over his follies for years to come like he correctly predicted that Tywin would be. A year later, Gerion watched in awe as his brothers, now battle hardened from the war, restored House Lannister to its proper place, impressed with the ruthless efficiency with which Tywin, Kevan and Tygett brought a deceive end to the revolt of the two traitorous vassals of House Reyne and House Tarbeck when they renounced their fealty and rose against their liege lords due to the perceived weakness of House Lannister brought about by Lord Tytos, and how they left the shattered remains of their castles as a mute testimony to the fate that awaits those foolish enough to scorn or doubt the power of Casterly Rock. Through the efforts of Tywin in particular, their family continued to prosper for the next few years. In 262 AC, when he was no more than seven, Gerion saw Tywin off alongside his siblings and their lord father when he left for King's Landing to serve the newly crowned King Aerys, who had appointed him the Hand of the King. In his brother's absence, Gerion was always eager to receive words from the capital, where Tywin to no one's surprise quickly proved himself a most efficient and capable a Hand. Tireless, prudent and diligent, the realm saw about twenty years worth of peace and plenty under Tywin's administration, who was much wiser than Aerys Targaryen. And just when Gerion had began to wonder whether life could not get any better for their family, Lord Tytos suddenly announced how the entirety of House Lannister and the closest of their vassals would journey on horseback to King's Landing in order to attend their wedding of Tywin and one of the ladies of the court. His wife-to-be was a Lannister cousin by the name of Joanna, whom Gerion could only vaguely recall had went to visit the capital for the coronation of King Jaehaerys Targaryen, the Second of His Name when he was very little and ended up staying as a lady-in-waiting for the future queen. Present at their wedding in 263 AC, a lavish affair held in the Great Sept of Baelor, he was gladdened to see his lord father and Tywin remain civil towards each other. Known by all who lived at Casterly Rock for his strong, sweet voice, Gerion paid tribute to the honor of Ser Tywin and his new lady wife by singing The Rains of Castamere, accompanied by the musicians hired to play there. He later mischievously helped himself to some of the wine from Kevan's goblet when he was preoccupied dancing with Dorna Swyft, only for the then eight year old youngling to find the beverage too sour for his liking, reacting so violently that their several attendees, their lord father among them, roared with laughter. Even though Gerion found himself spending the rest of the feast as cupbearer to the groom and his bride, it did not stop neither of his three other brothers from later offering him another sip from ''their cups as a jest. At the end of the feast, it was with a sinking sense of dread and foreboding that young Gerion bore witness to how the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms drunkenly made obscene japes about his new sister-in-law, at which time it truly began to dawn on the little lordling that things in the capital no longer was as they ought. Even so, Gerion remained confident that his brother would rise to the challenge and, once again, be a credit to House Lannister. Gerion was daunted to see how his most fearful of suspicions were proven true within a fortnight of their return to Casterly Rock, when a raven from their brother in King's Landing announced the forthcoming arrival of his lady wife at their home, and his expectations for her warm reception. And so she did, just a short time after dark the same day, flanked by twenty red-armored Lannister soldiers. The entire party was a woeful sight, and Gerion remember taking notice of how distraught his in-law had looked even as she dismounted her horse. Always so brave, however, she did not divulged the reason behind her relocation when asked during the evening meal an hour later, but come morning, Gerion had uncovered the truth, having snuck out of his bed in order to listen by the door of his beloved sister, whom Joanna had been visiting and admitted to having been sent away from court because of how king Aerys had been takien certain unwonted liberties with her during the bedding ritual, which had upset his queen and sparked tension between him and Tywin. Although the next few days that followed this discovery passed by rather uneventfully, the ancient walls of their castle had all been painted with a somber grey by the misfortunes of the future Lady of Casterly Rock, although Gerion's sister Genna often reminded him to be patient whenever he tried to cheer her up and got frustrated when it failed. And before long, things got only worse from there. True though it might be that their lord father came to oversee a period of relative peace and stability in the Westerlands, it was no secret that his bannermen only kept their tongues behind their teeth out of the fear that the King's Hand would be swift to serve them all steel and fire should they dare to as much as try to twist the lion's tale ever again. Even so, it was with a sinking sense of dread and foreboding that young Gerion had to watch while his lord father took a second mistress into his chambers to warm his bed for him: True though it might be that it was far from unheard of for highborn noblemen to lay with serving girls and lowborn ladies when the urge came upon them, even Gerion, young as he was, recognized how ill-advised it was for even the most powerful of lords to flaunt one's private affairs; There was not a soul at Casterly Rock who had bothered to tie themselves in a knot over it when Gerion's wet nurse became the personal paramour of Lord Tytos shortly after the untimely death of his lady wife, but then again, she had known her place.This second one, on the other hand, most certainly did not: Scarcely one step above a whore, yet she was so vain and so proud that one might be forgiven for thinking that she had forgotten that she came from dirt, and Gerion, Kevan, Tygett and Genna could do nothing but look as their lord father, as if bathing himself in shame, began to seat her beside him in the hall and showering her with gifts. Even Gerion, mild-mannered as he was, could not help but to grow increasingly discontent with her presence in the castle with each passing day. Before long, the wench was ordering about the household knights, dismissing servants and even helping herself to their mother's old jewelry. Academic pursuits Having recognized the superiority of his brothers at an early age, it did not take long before Gerion, amidst his growing frustration with his father's mistress and ultimately leaving the decision of joining the order of measters for Gerion to decide, but insisting that he were to remain in Oldtown and study the teachings and benefit of its scholars until such time he could use his knowledge to be a credit to their family. Life in Oldtown Chartered passage from Lannisport to Oldtown aboard a galley from his father's fleet, the fact that Ser Broom had been relieved of his duty as master-at-arms at Casterly Rock to accompany him in the capacity of tutor in the way of the sword, and, should the need arise, as a personal body guard, was only a small comfort. Coming of age tour Coming... Novice of Casterly Rock Coming... A quest of steel and smoke Coming... The lion's debt Coming... Qarro Volentin Coming... Appearance and Character Gerion Lannister is a strong, graceful man in his forties with shoulder-length hair that shines like beaten gold, framing his head not unlike how curtains might frame a window. His kind, thoughtful face have a certain quiet strength, though, and his striking green eyes, although most often laughing, will turn shrewd and full of resolve when circumstances require him to adopt a more serious persona. Though usually smiling, it is known that when he becomes genuinely angry, however, his brotherly resemblance to Tywin, which is almost completely hidden behind a benevolent and good-humored demeanor that stands in stark contrast to the stern solemnity of manner of his brother, becomes so apparent that some even might find it outright unnerving. More prideful than he cares to admit, Gerion are also somewhat dandified in manner of dress, often prone to don himself in only the finest silks, samites, and velvets, and seldom seen without the gold and crimson red of the noble House Lannister. Delighting in music and dance and a good singer himself, where his brothers are mens of war, Gerion is a man of passion. This meant that while he held no fear of being openly affectionate or loving towards those he care about, he is also utterly unafraid to speak his mind when he believes someone to be in the wrong. True though it might be that Gerion have inherited his father's temperament, being every bit the good-humored, courteous, soft-spoken and aimable gentleman Lord Tytos was, Gerion have none of his follies; Despite not being a lord, Gerion's decisiveness in both thought and deed combined with his family's wealth and power makes him a man of significant standing. Often holding duty over desire as a governing principle of behavior, he nevertheless is known for his strong sense of justice, being seen by many as wise, just, and kind-hearted. Fierce when angered, however, he is nevertheless not someone to be crossed, especially if harm comes to those of whom he are fond; as it is often said of Gerion Lannister that beguiling his joviality and his gallantry, even a smiling lion has teeth and claws. Abilities While Gerion Lannister knew his way around a sword in his youth, he was of a more bookish bent than his older brothers and never achieved knighthood, choosing instead to read the thrilling tales of adventurers and wishing to see the world himself. When he was not reading, however, there was few things he liked better than to run and ride and climb, meaning that even after training for battle eventually lost every appeal to him, he was still lithe and strong. During his self-imposed exile, however, Gerion befriended a celebrated Braavosi swordsman by the name of Syrio Forel, under whose tutelage Gerion trained as a water dancer and learned how to move and think like a warrior: Within twelve months, Gerion Lannister was living by his sword, swaggering through the nights with his hair dyed and his Lannister finery exchanged for a more inconspicuous attire, crossing blades with fellow bravos looking to prove their skills, burnishing himself steadily in both his status and his ability. Nearly a decade later, Gerion finally returned to Braavos after years worth of extensive travel in the Free Cities and outside, where swiftly developing an appreciation and veneration of all cultures, learning much about the ways and language of those dwelling in the different areas and befriending most he came across. Going by the name of Quarro Volentin, by the time Gerion was named the First Sword to the Sealord of Braavos following the departure of his predecessor, he had already proved true the claim that water dancers can kill upon the surface of the Moon Pool without disturbing the surface of the water many times over. Surprisingly nimble for someone his age, Gerion can run circles around almost any armored opponent, and his swordplay is very refined. Equipment Upon his return to Westeros, Gerion has acquired for himself a fine collection of slender blades made of the finest castle-forged steel gold could buy, all edged and balanced for the thrust, as to be best suited for the swift and deadly water dance, and with which he continually practices at swordplay in order to maintain the skill he has honed over the years in Essos. He often traine to fight with both hands and takes turns between practicing with each of them, although some of them are blunted and used for practice only. When not in use, however, all of these blades is being kept in Gerion's private quarters. Ever since he began using them against Lannister men for training, Gerion have had to have the blades of a couple of them replaced after they were struck too hard by heavy longswords. At his right hip, Gerion carries his weapon of choice; a small sword named Silence, forged by one of the finest sword smiths in the city of Qohor from Brightroar, the ancestral greatsword of House Lannister that were lost until Gerion Lannister successfully retrieved it from the ruins of Old Valyria. As such, its blade is made of Valyrian steel, spell-forged and dark as smoke. Only slightly longer than a short sword, it is even lighter and stronger because of the metalwork put into it. Having long become a highly accomplished and dangerous swordsman, Gerion made it so that he could carry a sword that would not stand out too much upon his return to Westeros, yet be small and light enough for him to wield much the same way he would do a Bravos blade. The feeling of wielding it remind him of the wooden practice swords Syrio had him use at the beginning of his training, only slightly lighter and much more deadly. The excess of steel he did not need from the original, served as payment to settle his debt to the Iron Bank of Braavos for resurrecting him. Gerion often wields it in his left hand as a way of practicing fighting with both, changing it to his dominant one only when facing a particularly skilled foe. Having grown rather attached to it, however, Gerion has yet to unsheathe it in front of anyone in his family, concerned they will claim it if they were to learn of how he obtained it. Category:House Lannister